The Buchan Farmhouse
A Scarlet Bottlebrush.
Oranges, lemons, mandarins and grapefruit!
The road to Snowy River.
The farmhouse from the Snowy River Road.
The view of Lake Entrance from the lookout on the highway.
Sunday,
November 27th.
I
woke up with the sun listening to the birds. It promised to be a
beautiful warm, sunny day. I spent the morning eating oranges on the
porch and looking at the views. I went for a couple of short walks on
the property. Then I drove down the drive and turned the other
direction to go to Snowy River National Park. It was on a narrow,
gravel road and I had to drive through one flooded section, that
descended off the top of the hills to the river. En Route there was a
lookout where you could see the patchwork quilt of farms and forests
on these foothills.
When
I got there I found one man camping. I took the trail that led to the
river and as I started I saw the tail end of a black snake disappear
into long grass. I approached carefully but couldn't find it, so I
continued down to the river. I was a pretty spot where the Snowy
River and the Buchan River meet. Mary and Dennis had told me this was
the local swimming spot, but I didn't go in, partly because there was
a pretty good current. I walked around a couple of trails by the
rivers conscious of the fact I had seen a snake. When I returned to
the car and passed the spot where I had seen it, I found it basking
in the sun on a grass patch close to where I had seen it (if in fact
it was the same one). I got a couple of photos but kept my distance.
When I researched it later on the internet I think I identified it as a
Highland Cooperhead, which is another poisonous snake. When I got
back to the camp I gave the camper the heads up that I had seen the
snake in case he headed down that trail. He was appreciative as he is
very snake wary.
When
I got back I dropped in to say goodbye to Mary and Dennis and they
let me pick a couple of bags of oranges, mandarins, lemons and
grapefruit! I saw Mary's beautiful flower garden and Dennis'
vegetable patch as well as his workshop where he makes animals out of
spare auto parts. Good people.
I
drove back to the farm house, packed up and then drove into Buchan
and the Roadhouse to have brunch. I was really sad to leave. Of all
the places I have visited this was probably my favourite, in that I
would love to retire to a place like this, or to have been able to
stay for a longer period of time. I loved the house, the views, the
farm, the solitude and the nature of it. I do have to wonder what it
would be like in the winter or for a period of rain (they get lots up
here but apparently no snow). Anyway, it was only for the weekend.
In
town after eating I bought a glass of lemonade and a couple of
cupcakes from local students who were raising money for cancer
research because one of their teachers has cancer.
Then
I began the long drive back home again. Dennis recommended taking a
slightly different route via Lake Entrance. The highway offers a
beautiful view of the lake area along the south east coast of
Australia. This is one of the vacation/holiday/boating/fishing areas
of Victoria. I didn't stop as I will probably drive back through here
on my way to Brisbane in a couple of weeks. I got back to Melbourne
in time to have a swim at MSAC before heading home for the night.
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